Rockland County is the second-southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York, after Richmond County. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's third-most densely populated county outside New York City after Nassau and neighboring Westchester Counties. The county seat and largest hamlet is New City. Rockland County is accessible via the New York State Thruway, which crosses the Hudson River to Westchester at the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Tappan Zee, ten exits up from the NYC border, as well as the Palisades Parkway five exits up from the George Washington Bridge. The county's name derives from "rocky land", as the area has been aptly described, largely due to the Hudson River Palisades. The county is part of the Hudson Valley region of the state.
Nyack is a village located primarily in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retains a very small western section in Clarkstown. The village had a population of 7,265 as of the 2020 census. It is a suburb of New York City lying approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of the Manhattan boundary near the west bank of the Hudson River, situated north of South Nyack, east of Central Nyack, south of Upper Nyack, and southeast of Valley Cottage.
Orangetown is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located in the southeastern part of the county. It is northwest of New York City, north of New Jersey, east of the town of Ramapo, south of the town of Clarkstown, and west of the Hudson River. The population was 48,655 at the 2020 census.
Piermont is a village incorporated in 1847 in Rockland County, New York, United States. Piermont is in the town of Orangetown, located north of the hamlet of Palisades, east of Sparkill, and south of Grand View-on-Hudson, on the west bank of the Hudson River. The population was 2,517 at the 2020 census. Woody Allen set The Purple Rose of Cairo (1984) in Piermont.
South Nyack is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Grand View-on-Hudson, northeast of Orangeburg, east of Blauvelt State Park, south of Nyack and west of the Hudson River. The hamlet is the western terminus of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Its population was 3,510 at the 2010 census. The hamlet was formerly incorporated as a village from 1878 until 2022.
Tappan is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York. It is located northwest of Alpine, New Jersey, north of Northvale, New Jersey and Rockleigh, New Jersey, northeast of Old Tappan, New Jersey, east/southeast of Nauraushaun and Pearl River, south of Orangeburg, southwest of Sparkill, and west of Palisades; Tappan shares a border with each. The population was 6,673, according to the 2020 census.
The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban area outside New York City just west of the lower Hudson River, which it roughly parallels, separated from it by the New Jersey Palisades. It also flows through and drains the New Jersey Meadowlands. The lower river, which is navigable as far as the city of Hackensack, is heavily industrialized and forms a commercial extension of Newark Bay.
The Tappan Zee is a natural widening of the Hudson River, about 3 miles (4.8 km) across at its widest, in southeastern New York. It stretches about 10 miles (16 km) along the boundary between Rockland and Westchester counties, downstream from Croton Point to Irvington. It derives its name from the Tappan people of the Lenape, and the Dutch word zee, meaning a sea.
The Northern Branch is a railroad line that runs from Jersey City to Northvale in northeastern New Jersey, and formerly extended further into New York State. The line was constructed in 1859 by the Northern Railroad of New Jersey to connect the New York and Erie Railroad's Piermont Branch terminus in Piermont, New York, directly to Erie's primary terminal in Jersey City, initially Exchange Place, later Pavonia Terminal. In 1870 the line was extended to Nyack, New York, and continued to provide passenger service until 1966. After the Erie's unsuccessful merger with the Lackawanna Railroad to form the Erie-Lackawanna, ownership of the line passed into the hands of Conrail upon its formation in 1976 from a number of bankrupt railroads.
Tallman Mountain State Park is a 687-acre (2.78 km2) state park in Rockland County, New York, located adjacent to the Hudson River in the Town of Orangetown just south of Piermont. It is part of the Palisades Interstate Park System.
Blauvelt State Park is a 644-acre (2.61 km2) undeveloped state park located in the Town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, near the Hudson River Palisades. The park's land occupies the site of the former Camp Bluefields, a rifle range used to train members of the New York National Guard prior to World War I. The park is located south of Nyack.
Palisades, formerly known as Sneden's Landing, is a hamlet in the Town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York. It is located north of Rockleigh and Alpine, New Jersey; east of Tappan; south of Sparkill; and west of the Hudson River.
Nauraushaun is a hamlet in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of the state of New Jersey, along the northwestern shore of Lake Tappan; east of Chestnut Ridge; south of Pearl River and west of Blauvelt. It derives its name from a creek tributary, which was also known as Nauraushank. For many years the area was called Orangeville. Its location is 41°03′24.98″N73°59′34.01″W
Sparkill, formerly known as Tappan Sloat, is a suburban hamlet and census-designated place in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Palisades; east of Tappan; south of Piermont and west of the Hudson River. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 1,565. The hamlet is home to St. Thomas Aquinas College and the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill.
New York State Route 340 (NY 340) is a 3.10-mile (4.99 km) state highway in southeastern Rockland County, New York, in the United States. Though it is signed as an east–west route, it actually follows a north–south alignment. The southern terminus of the route is at the New Jersey state line in Palisades, where it becomes County Route 501 (CR 501). The northern terminus is at an intersection with NY 303 in Orangeburg; however, according to the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), the route continued for another 0.07 miles (0.11 km) to the northwest of NY 303 until by 2017. NY 340 was assigned to part of its modern routing in the early 1930s and extended to its current length in the early 1940s.
New York State Route 303 (NY 303) is a north–south state highway in eastern Rockland County, New York, in the United States. It begins at the New Jersey state line in the hamlet of Tappan and runs generally northward for 10.92 miles (17.57 km) to an intersection with U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) in Clarkstown. The route has connections to the Palisades Interstate Parkway and the New York State Thruway, the latter carrying Interstate 87 (I-87) and I-287. NY 303 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, and only minor realignments have occurred since that time.
Tappan Zee High School is a public high school located in Orangeburg, New York in Rockland County. The school serves students in grades 9–12, and is part of the South Orangetown Central School District. The school derives its name from the nearby Tappan Zee section of the Hudson River.
The recorded history of Rockland County, New York begins on February 23, 1798, when the county was split off from Orange County, New York and formed as its own administrative division of the state of New York. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) north-northwest of New York City, and is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The county seat is the hamlet of New City. The name comes from rocky land, an early description of the area given by settlers. Rockland is New York's southernmost county west of the Hudson River. It is suburban in nature, with a considerable amount of scenic designated parkland. Rockland County does not border any of the New York City boroughs, but is only 9.5 miles (15.3 km) north of Manhattan at the counties' two respective closest points
The Old Erie Path is a 3.4 mile north-south rail trail in the town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York. It begins at the southern edge of South Nyack at the end of the Raymond G. Esposito Trail, spanning Grand View-on-Hudson and Piermont before terminating at the junction of the Joseph B. Clarke Rail Trail in Sparkill. The trail is a dirt path, suitable for hiking and mountain biking.
The Joseph B. Clarke Rail Trail is a paved 3.8 mile north-south rail trail in the town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York. It begins at the Blauvelt Free Library on Western Highway in the hamlet of Blauvelt, and ends at the intersection of Oak Tree Road in the hamlet of Tappan. The trail intersects the Old Erie Path at Depot Square in Sparkill.
